No money
The waitress collected the token that the handsome man handed to her, it was not sleek, it was not a card.
"Sir, what am I to do with this?" She asked, fiddling with the token. She had seen it somewhere before, she was sure, however, she couldn't for some reason remember where.
Raizel looked at her in some confusion in his depths, "To pay for the meal" He helpfully supplied.
"How can this pay for the meal? We collect only credits or spirit stones." The waitress replied in neither servile nor an overbearing tone. She still had a professional smile on her face.
"This is the VIP token of the Tianling Pavilion." There, he has said it. This was the first time he had to personally introduce his token. It was a bit...
However the waitress did not relent, rather than her anger abating, it finally showed on her face.
She looked at his costume and a frown finally showing on her face. Although she was reluctant to scold him, it was not every day that she saw such a fine man in the restaurant but she needed her salary for the month. She was stuck in her current cultivation level and she needed spirit stones.
"Sir, please be serious. The police station is just 2 blocks away. If you cannot pay we will have no choice but to send you there."
Another new word. Raizel was getting irritated, should he release his aura? He had never encountered this before. Was this something other people experience daily.
Of course not. How many people would go to eat without bringing money? That stingy old abbot was one for sure.
The waitress felt the air around the customer getting dangerous and she picked up her phone. "Please pay up or I will call the police."
Raizel's eyes widened, the function of that thin box is for communication? Then the police should be a kind of city guards? No considering the fear on some customers face they should be more important.
Another problem was how he was doing to meditate on the situation; Luca was an expert in doing that. He tried to remember what his friend would do.
"Let me see that" A man came towards them. Raizel noticed that he had been staring at them since he brought out the token. No, most likely, he had been staring at the token. He was wearing a pair of spectacles and holding a briefcase. He looked very refined.
The surrounding people moved their gazes to the man and their voices increased in frequency. It turns out that the man, Mr Paul was a collector who owns an antique store that sells all kinds of things and it seemed like he had a bad reputation.
Paul flipped over the token and inspected it carefully. After a while, he let out a sigh. All the signs told that this token was authentic but Paul knew it was a counterfeit.
After over 300 years, there was no dirt, no signs of the passage of time. The forger had immense skills. It was not the work of a machine but human hands.
"Young man, What about I give you 2000 credits for this token? Even though it looks pretty, it is still fake after all." Paul said.
Immense happiness rising up from within him. He made sure not to let it show, only displaying conflicted and hesitant expressions, like he did not want to buy it.
Counterfeit artefacts have ranking systems. The lowest level would be the mass-produced fake goods in the market that an amateur could tell apart.
Paul was not an amateur, he knew that a trip to Sein city with the token would get him at least 50,000 credits. If he meets a naive young master, he could get 100,000 credits or more. Wasn't it a great deal? He will be making a buck load of profit for almost nothing in return.
Raizel looked at the man. Was he thinking that the token was fake? Has the Tianling Pavilion also closed down?
An image of a beautiful girl with red hair and blue eyes flashed in his mind, Qing Yi. She was the daughter of the Qing Chen, the owner of the Tianling Pavilion. She was also the reason he had gotten the VIP token as a mere Dao Budding realm cultivator. There was a sense of grief in Raizel's mind but he quickly pushed it away.
"No," He blatantly refused. Not only was the Token a gift, but It was also very rare now. What if the Tianling Pavilion hid all their treasures during the war and this token is the key? As a very poor cultivator, how can he give away this chance?
Everyone looked at him, he did not even hesitate. Raizel got up and the waitress wondered whether to call the police. Her manager was not around, it was only the chefs, and there were no security officers.
Raizel walked to Paul, took the token and put it away. A voice then entered his ears.
"Two low-grade long swords. Settle the bill, let's talk."
Paul's eyes widened. Spiritual sense, he must be in the Dao Budding Realm or higher. He felt excited, although he was a mundane, a non-cultivator, He was not afraid. No matter how powerful a cultivator is, Is he more powerful than the law. The killing of the mundanes was a criminal offence.
"I will settle his bill." He quickly paid the bill and followed Raizel in haste.
"Mr Cultivator, how can I address you? My name is Iyke, Paul Iyke."
Raizel watched the man that was leading him to a shop. This man will try to cheat him but it doesn't matter because it was this type of person that knew something about everything. They were perfect for information to blend into a town.
"Raizel" He carefully watched the man's expression. There was no surprise.
"Another Raizel, huh." Parents that named their children Raizel with hopes they would attain the same glory that the former hero did were plentiful. The boy was also letting his parents dream come through a Dao budding expert at his young age.
Perhaps he was not a young man, after all, he had heard tales of old cultivators wearing a young form while courting a young girl.
A shiver ran down his spine. It was not his business; it was the police business. What matters to him was his money. Even if the swords were half as exquisite as the Token, it would be good business.
He led the young or old cultivator down to his store in the alleyway. It was an old tacky store but it was Paul's pride and joy. This store had sent his four children to the university.
Entering the old store, Raizel did not know where to place his hands or feet. He stood stiffly in front of the counter and placed two swords on top of it. Paul looked at the two swords. There were double-edged, straight swords.
He picked them up, trying to appraise them. He didn't know what the material it was made of but it was incredibly sharp. One thing was sure these weren't fake swords; they were high-quality low-grade swords. He doesn't have to be a cultivator to see that.
He looked at the young man in front of him. Does he know the swords were real? Of course, he was a Dao Budding Expert. Why would he choose to sell them here and not at the Treasure Shops around? Were they stolen?
"How much would you pay the both of them?" Raizel asked.
Paul hesitated, although the market price of low-grade swords was 100,000 credits. Those were those of low quality.
He could tell these are good swords; he hardened his heart and said, "170,000 credits for the both of them. You should know these are low-grade swords. They are common everywhere. Besides I would not inquire about your I.D and would pay you in cash."
"That is too low, How about you add in a little favour."
Paul narrowed his eyes, "I am a mundane, which favour would I help a cultivator such as yourself with?"
"I promise it would not harm you. I just want to ask a few questions."
Feeling that the young man was sincere, he nodded. "Deal."
He entered inside and brought out four bundles of paper notes. Raizel lifted his brows.
Paul was almost affronted, "You can count the money if you like. There are 2000 there, no more no less."
Raizel said nothing as he looked at the note that had some mountain and trees picture with 100 printed boldly on top. He looked at the next one, they were eerily identical. So these were credits, why would someone prefer this to spirit stones.
"Spirit stones?"
"I am just a small mundane businessman, why would I have spirit stones? You should go to the bank to exchange. I heard the exchange rate has increased again it is now 120 to 1."
Raizel felt even more confused.